Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Colossians 3:16
In case you haven’t noticed, sports is now all about the message. And the message isn’t the team’s theme song or anything like that. When I say that sports is all about the message, I mean the advertising message. Car racing was an early sport to be all about the message. Just look at any race car and you’ll find every available inch has an ad on it. Even the pit crews have ads on their backs. Their arms. Their legs. On their hats.
The once overly conservative PGA only had ads on their hats. Now it’s on their shirts in multiple places. Collars. Arm sleeves. Front and backs of shirts. Their bag also has ads and company logos. Even the caddies have gotten into the act with ads on their hats. One of the results of all these ads is to get more and more exposure. Therefore, sporting events have gotten longer. Too long if you ask me. There is just so much talking, planning, and practicing before each play. Before each shot. Part of the reason is that so much is riding on each and every play.
I understand that every one of the 150 snaps in a college or NFL football game matters. That every one of the 300 pitches in a major league baseball game is important. You have only so many tries in a game, and you need to make each one matter.
But golf is by far the toughest when it comes to the fact that every stroke counts. The difference between the number one and 200th players in the world is just five strokes a round. That’s the difference between making over $5 million a year and $125,000.
But there’s a more important message than the ads in sports. That message is all about Christ. That message is more than just the literal words he said. More than the things he did. It includes all the truth in all the New Testament also.
So, where is his message to sit? Where is the message of Jesus to live? It’s not just to be out there somewhere. Impersonal. Just another checklist that we look at once in a while. Something we only think about on Sunday’s at church.
The message of Christ is to dwell inside of us. It’s not something we wear on our tee shirts. Bumper stickers. Jewelry. Or even tattooed. There’s no proof that Christ is dwelling because we carry a bible either.
Jesus is to be at home inside of us. He’s to be welcomed every minute of the day. Christ should feel comfortable with us and us with him. He’s an invited and welcomed guest in the house of our life. Where we live inside. He’s comfortable with us and we’re comfortable with him.
Instead of looking for an outside proof, the proof is in the pudding. Or should I say, the proof is in the “putting.” When we put ourselves out there. Reaching out to help and encourage people.
And what’s that dwelling look like? It looks rich. It looks valuable. But more than just it’s worth a lot, there’s also a lot of it. There’s not just one or two parts to dwelling, there’s bunches of it. There’s plenty of it. Enough for us more than enough to go around. To share him with everyone we know and meet.
Now comes the hard part. Or at least we think it’s hard, but nothing happens without it. Yes, we need to know more and more about him. This takes teaching. It takes reading our bibles. It takes prayer. But it needs something more.
It takes someone with the guts to tell us that we can do better. That we need to do better. We need admonishment. We need to be warned. We need correction. We need to be shown what we’re doing. Why it’s wrong. And how to improve for God’s glory and the good of the people around us.
Without criticism, how does an athlete make it to the pros? Without criticism, how does a cook become a 5-star chef? Without criticism how does a scribbler become an artist? Proverbs 15:31-32 He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.
Without being admonished, how does an athlete make it to the pros? Without criticism, how does a cook become a 5-star chef? Without correction, how does a scribbler become an artist?
He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.
Proverbs 15:31-32
Every player in professional sports always thanks their coaches. None of them would ever make it by themselves. All of them had people who not only were on their team but cared for them enough to tell them the truth. Are you ready to hear the message that might sting for a minute, but help you for the rest of your life with Jesus? Do you care enough to say what someone doesn’t want to hear, but they sure need to hear that message?
Noodling Questions
Why are we so casual about our encounters with people?
How would you describe your message about Jesus?
Where are we looking for correction when it comes to being a faithful Christian?
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